Emery reveals new position for Mesut Ozil

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Unai Emery has suggested that Mesut Ozil could line up on the right wing for Arsenal next season despite starting as a No.10 in his first appearance of pre-season against PSG.

The German – who has endured a tumultuous summer, retiring from the national team over ‘racism and disrespect’ – linked up with his teammates in Singapore and netted after just 13 minutes as Arsenal demolished PSG 5-1 on Saturday. Ozil started the match playing ahead of Arsenal’s two holding midfielders, but Emery is also considering using him off the flank.

Speaking after the resounding victory over his old club, Emery said of Ozil: ‘We want to give him and our players the position they feel most comfortable in on the pitch. ‘He started today at No.10 with Matteo [Guendouzi] and Mohamed [Elneny] behind him. The first one would go up and then find him between the lines, or sometimes [Henrikh] Mkhitaryan.

‘When we do have the ball, we can press with the striker and a No.10 almost like a 4-4-2 in a press. ‘It depends because Mesut can play on the right and go inside, driving in to open up space for the right back. ‘We want to find a space for him and the other players where they can use their qualities through good positioning.

‘I think in the first half today we played good with quality players, but I want to improve this pressing. ‘In the second half they were tired, but the young players gave us the pressing back and allowed us to change our positions and play with three in midfield.’